Belle Epoque ** (Aquarius) Spain's lackluster nominee for this year's best foreign language film Oscar is set during the sunny spring days of 1931 when the country is poised for a new beginning after the collapse of the monarchy. Director Fernando Trueba uses this unrestrained time of confusion and gaiety as a backdrop for his comic tribute to earthly delights. He takes his time--and too much of ours--to equate sex with life in "Belle Epoque." The story follows the Casanova-like escapades of a young army deserter (Jorge Sanz) taken in by a philosophical old artist (Fernando Fernan Gomez) and his four hot-blooded daughters. The movie stops and starts, its structure often recalling tired porn in which everything is set up for the next sexual dalliance, ogled by the eye of the camera like a peeping Tom. Rated R. Subtitled. --S.T. @smallhead:Cronos *** (Aquarius) This film from Mexican director Guillermo del Toro tells the story of an aging antiques dealer who happens upon the Cronos, a gold-plated device capable of giving eternal life. Del Toro creates an intriguing mix of horror and hilarity as the gory scenes unfold, but the film's shocking grotesqueness is not just for show. It is one element in a multi-layered cultural commentary. Mocking, in an interesting way, mankind's obsession with its own mortality, del Torro names his protagonist Jesus Gris, a Christ figure "resurrected" as a vampire. Only instead of spreading the word of God, he sucks the lifeblood out of people. Eclectic in its influences, the stylishly grotesque "Cronos" draws from horror films, Hitchcock, even Disney. Not rated. --N.M.
Crooklyn ** 1/2 (Century 10, UA 6) Spike Lee revisits the sidewalks and brownstones of his childhood in this funny but uneven comedy. The Bed-Stuy streets of Brooklyn sweltered and exploded in "Do the Right Thing," but this time all the heat is trapped inside as a family of seven struggles in the early 1970s. With such pop culture icons as "The Partridge Family" and "Soul Train" blasting in the background, the story unfolds in a loose, episodic fashion primarily through the eyes of the feisty 10-year-old sister (newcomer Zelda Harris) who holds her own with four rowdy brothers. Although their comic roughhousing sets the tone, the movie is best in its quiet touching moments. Strong performances by Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo as the parents--not Lee's excessive use of camera gimmicks--move us to understand the importance of family. Rated PG-13. --S.T.
The Crow ** 1/2 (Palo Alto Square, Century 12) An intensely violent action picture, "The Crow" is based on the comic book series by James O'Barr. It tells the story of a rock singer (Brandon Lee, who died in a freak shooting accident during the making of the film) who comes back from the dead to avenge his and his fiancee's murder. This film owes a great debt to "Batman." Lee even wears white makeup and red lipstick like the Joker. But "The Crow" is more thematically whole and mesmerizing than the Tim Burton film. It packs a significant punch, grabbing you right away and never really letting go--even when it descends into predictable action-caper cliches. Rated R. --N.M.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues * 1/2 (Varsity, UA 6) There are three redeeming qualities in Gus Van Sant's depressing attempt to bring Tom Robbins' novel of the same name to the screen: the soundtrack by k.d. lang, the sexy Uma Thurman perfectly cast in the role of Sissy Hankshaw and the voice-over sequences by Robbins himself. The voice-overs work because what defined Robbins' hyper-imaginative novel as a countercultural classic was the prose itself, the meandering, philosophical themes and ideas woven into a quirky story about a hitchhiking woman with oversized thumbs on a quest for a place in the universe. In trying to extract from the novel a linear tale of sexual and social discovery, Van Sant sacrificed the metaphoric digressions that made the 1976 novel such a fascinating read. What he's left with is a thin story that barely hangs together. Rated R. --M.H.
Four Weddings and a Funeral *** (Century 10, Century 12) The beguiling spell of love and hope that British director Mike Newell cast in "Enchanted April" works its magic again in "Four Weddings and a Funeral," a high-spirited romantic comedy of intoxicating fun. Newell repeats his formula of tossing a diverse group of people together in a predictable situation. The film's charm comes through as the characters unexpectedly reveal themselves and get delightfully silly over affairs of the heart. Hugh Grant and his circle of friends boast about being single and proud of it while toasting the "enemy" at the string of weddings they attend. It takes a soft-spoken American (Andie MacDowell) and a funeral to convince the confirmed bachelor that the time has come to stop flirting with commitment. Rated R. --S.T.
Naked Gun 33 1/3 **1/2 (Century 10, Century 12) More than its two predecessors, "Naked Gun 33 1/3" rests squarely on the shoulders of Leslie Nielsen, who moves the story through an uproarious beginning, a sagging middle and a climax too silly even by "Naked Gun" standards. The new film finds Nielsen retired from the police force ("We've shot a lot of people together," he says wistfully at his retirement party) and navigating his way chaotically through the domestic life. As his new wife (Priscilla Presley) goes off to work every day, he stays home ironing, making cupcakes and sniffling at the soaps. He's called back into action to thwart a terrorist bomber (Fred Ward), and here's where the movie thuds. There are just too many plot convolutions in the middle of the film, dragging the momentum down. Rated PG-13. --N.M.
The Paper *** (Century 10, Century 12) With the help of an energetic script, Ron Howard capitalizes on the strengths of his all-star cast: Michael Keaton is charming and likable, Robert Duvall is the face of authority, Glenn Close is a femme fatale, Randy Quaid is oddly humorous and Marisa Tomei is just plain adorable. A New York city newspaper editor (Keaton) is caught between trying to balance his demanding career with the demands of his wife (Tomei). He loves his job, but it could mean the end of his relationship. The story of a man discovering he has misplaced his priorities has been covered countless times before, and yet Keaton's "average-guy" acting style makes it seem so real that it is worth going through again. Rated R. --J.H.
Schindler's List **** (Century 12) Because "Schindler's List" is a movie of such power, scope and intelligence, it will eventually take its place alongside masterpieces like "Battleship Potemkin," "Grand Illusion" and "The Great Dictator." Three hours and 15 minutes long and shot almost entirely in black and white, "Schindler's List" tells the true story of how one man, and not a particularly good or extraordinary man, pits himself against the Nazi war machine to rescue nearly 1,100 Polish Jews from certain death. Director Steven Spielberg spares nothing in his evocation of the era. The performances are universally outstanding. Liam Neeson is formidable as the handsome, urbane, philandering Oskar Schindler, whose shifting emotions and allegiances must be masked at every turn. Ben Kingsley plays Schindler's Jewish accountant with heartbreaking humanity and restraint. Rated R. --D.S.
Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould ** 1/2 (Palo Alto Square) One feels a bit sorry for Glenn Gould after watching this connect-the-dots chronology of the piano virtuoso's life told in 32 vignettes. A bittersweet picture of the gifted musician, who abruptly gave up live performing at age 32 and died of a stroke at age 50 in 1982, emerges from self-contained, often witty segments ranging in length from 45 seconds to more than 10 minutes. Colm Feore plays Gould with a benign otherworldliness that is engaging. His performance belies the complicated genius of the man--there is no doubt he was brilliant and eccentric--but this seems to be the only note the film can sound. The series of films sound a tired and questionable theme over and over again: Gould was not like the rest of us. Not rated. --N.M.
When a Man Loves a Woman ** 1/2(Century 10, Century 12) Director Luis Mandoki ("The White Palace") deals less with alcoholism than the relationships of those who are victims of it in the appropriately titled "When a Man Loves a Woman." Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia give believable performances as a seemingly perfect, loving couple who are torn apart by Ryan's drinking. Much of the psychology here seems to be snagged straight from John Gray's popular book "Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus," but, overall, the film tells a solid story about the power of love. Rated R. --S.I.
White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf ** 1/2 (UA 6) White Fang returns in a rousing, old-fashioned adventure story that owes more to Disney than Jack London. The wolf-dog and his prospector friend from San Francisco (Scott Bairstow) have survived the harsh Alaskan winter of 1906 only to discover an equally formidable foe: the greedy white man with gold fever. "Dances with Wolves" meets "Thunderheart" as the young miner comes into contact with the starving Haida tribe seeking the legendary white wolf, a great warrior who will lead them to the caribou and restore balance to the land. Implausible but carefully plotted, the movie provides edge-of-your-seat entertainment. Rated PG. --S.T.
With Honors * 1/2 (Century 12) Alek Keshishian, who helmed "Madonna: Truth or Dare," treads timidly in "With Honors," his first foray into fictionalized fluff. It's a tepid tale of four Harvard roommates (Brendan Fraser, Moira Kelly, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Hamilton) who open their hearts after they befriend an old bum (Joe Pesci). Fraser, an ultra-right-wing Dan Quayle wannabe, learns compassion and unselfishness. Kelly, somewhat of a nympho, stops seeing men as pieces of meat. Hamilton, an uptight pre-med student, learns to loosen up. And Dempsey, the goateed campus disc jockey. learns to let go of his pet rooster. (You figure that one out.) Rated PG-13. --N.M.